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I know this is a noobish question but I have'nt seen many threads discussing it. At any rate I'm in the market for a DS and I'm looking for a flash cart that will let me play DS games (obviously) but I also would the ability to play GBA games along with other systems (nes, snes, etc...). From what I've researched if I want to play GBA games then slot 2 carts are my only option, however I'm suprised at the lack of those carts in comparison to slot 1s. So my question is what advantages does a slot 1 cart have over a slot 2 cart? Are slot 1 devices easier to use? I would like a cart that requires as little work as possible to play roms. Basically I would want to just transfer the backup roms to the card, insert the card into the adapter and start playing games. I realize that some config stuff is neccessary but the less the better.

Slot 1 cards offer SDHC, ease of use, no patching involved (just drag-and-drop) along with other advantages. GBA support is still there for Slot 1 cards. You can get an EZFlash 3-in-1, which goes in your slot 2 and allows loading GBA games from a regular Slot 1 card. Or if you get an M3DS Real, you can get the Perfect bundle which comes with their own slot 2 solution. PM me with any questions you may have.

Secondly they were cheaper as there was no need for stuff to support the GBA roms (ram is not that expensive but it does add to the price).

Nowadays compatibility is a bit higher, the supercard team and the ezflash team still keep on with updates though so it is not necessarily true (both will beat the R4, probably even with the likes of the ARM7 fixes).

They support SDHC (back when the first DS slot carts appeared a 2 gig microSD would have probably cost more than the cart itself). No GBA slot card supports SDHC although I think the supercard added it for homebrew only.

Cheat support is available (although DSATM works too), soft reset is better, RTS and game guide is there)

For some it was drag and drop, aside from some GBA stuff no GBA slot cart allows you to drag and drop roms. The clients vary in ease of use (see the older threads and you will see loads of options for the likes of the M3 and supercard, EZFlash have simple open and press send but occasionally needed updates where others did not).

Also please note the supercards are no good for GBA games ( http://rothmans.joskeonline.com/supercardsite/ ), the M3 and EZ4 lines both have a version that is cheaper but does not have support for large GBA games (EZ4 lite compact and M3 lite professional).

get a cyclo ds and a ez flash 3in1 expansion pack, with the cyclo no set up needed at all (just a very simple drag and drop firmware upgrade) to let you play gba and nds games seamlessly, it's my pick for what you should get

They support SDHC (back when the first DS slot carts appeared a 2 gig microSD would have probably cost more than the cart itself). No GBA slot card supports SDHC although I think the supercard added it for homebrew only.

Cheat support is available (although DSATM works too), soft reset is better, RTS and game guide is there)

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Minor correction: it's the slot-2 M3 products that have SDHC support, but only for media files using the M3's built-in media player.

Slot-2 Supercards have in-game guide, soft-reset, and cheat support, but you're right in that slot-1 devices tend to do it better and more streamlined.

In essence, if you want both DS and GBA gaming, get a slot-1 device and a slot-2 expansion pack rather than a dedicated slot-2 device and a NoPass.

There are several slot 1 flash carts that support loading GBA games to the slot 2 EZFlash 3-in-1 directly from the menu including the Acekard 2, Edge, CycloDS (already mentioned by naveedy), and even the DSTT running YSMenu.

If you think that game state dumps are worth the extra cost, go with the CycloDS plus the 3-in-1. Otherwise, go with the Acekard 2 plus the 3-in-1.

There are several slot 1 flash carts that support loading GBA games to the slot 2 EZFlash 3-in-1 directly from the menu including the Acekard 2, Edge, CycloDS (already mentioned by naveedy), and even the DSTT running YSMenu.

If you think that game state dumps are worth the extra cost, go with the CycloDS plus the 3-in-1. Otherwise, go with the Acekard 2 plus the 3-in-1.

-Bri

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Or if you like great GUI's, go with the M3DS Real + the M3DS Real Expansion Pack. Make sure to download Sakura!

There are several slot 1 flash carts that support loading GBA games to the slot 2 EZFlash 3-in-1 directly from the menu including the Acekard 2, Edge, CycloDS (already mentioned by naveedy), and even the DSTT running YSMenu.

If you think that game state dumps are worth the extra cost, go with the CycloDS plus the 3-in-1. Otherwise, go with the Acekard 2 plus the 3-in-1.

-Bri

Click to expand...

Or if you like great GUI's, go with the M3DS Real + the M3DS Real Expansion Pack. Make sure to download Sakura!

There are several slot 1 flash carts that support loading GBA games to the slot 2 EZFlash 3-in-1 directly from the menu including the Acekard 2, Edge, CycloDS (already mentioned by naveedy), and even the DSTT running YSMenu.

If you think that game state dumps are worth the extra cost, go with the CycloDS plus the 3-in-1. Otherwise, go with the Acekard 2 plus the 3-in-1.

-Bri

Click to expand...

Or if you like great GUI's, go with the M3DS Real + the M3DS Real Expansion Pack. Make sure to download Sakura!

There are plenty of discussions in other threads about this, but I don't like Sakura as much as some people do. Personally, I prefer the Acekard 2 menu (and the Acekard 2 is cheaper).

But yes, if you like Sakura, by all means go with the M3DS Real plus the M3DS Real Expansion Pack.

I was just pointing out that there are plenty of other slot 1 flash carts that support loading a GBA game to a slot 2 cart (particularly the EZFlash 3-in-1 which works with many slot 1 carts) directly from the menu.